Key issues

Eight problems that come with being British and living abroad

Each has a policy group behind it. Each has a remedy we think a UK minister could defend in public — because a demand that cannot be sold to the wider electorate does not get implemented.

Priority issues

Where we are concentrating effort: the largest number of people, the most severe effects, and the best prospect of movement in this Parliament.

Priority issue

Frozen Pensions

More than 450,000 British pensioners abroad are paid the state pension rate they first received, with no annual uprating — for life.

Priority issue

Higher Education and University Fees

British children raised abroad are routinely classified as international students at UK universities, paying several times the home rate despite holding UK citizenship.

Priority issue

Spouse and Family Visas

British citizens who marry abroad often cannot bring their spouse and children home, because the minimum income requirement is measured against UK earnings they do not yet have.

The remaining issues

Key issue

UK Bank Accounts

UK banks increasingly close or refuse accounts held by citizens with an overseas address, cutting people off from pensions, mortgages and their own financial history.

Key issue

Housing Loan Interest

British citizens living overseas are charged higher mortgage rates on UK property and shut out of most mainstream products, regardless of their income or record.

Key issue

Fully Functional Voting

Only 52% of overseas postal ballots were returned in time to be counted in 2024. Having the right to vote is not the same as being able to use it.

Key issue

Overseas Constituencies

France has 11 deputies for citizens abroad and Italy has 12 deputies and 6 senators. Britons abroad are represented by whoever holds the seat covering an address they left decades ago.

Key issue

Better Government Communication

The UK government has no systematic way to identify or contact its citizens overseas — which is why 3.4 million people became eligible to vote and almost none of them found out.

Priority issues

The remaining issues

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